Farro casserole

I haven't posted for a while. I've been traveling (spring break Boston woo!!) and I've also just been cooking uninteresting, uninventive dishes. Today, this dreary Baltimore day, I decided to break that funk. I made myself an incredibly tasty lunch adapted from (what else?) this 101 cookbooks recipe. The original recipe calls it a "risotto," but I'd say it's more of a rice casserole. It'd make a great pot-luck dish.

Preheat the oven to 400.
Prepare a casserole dish (8x8 or so) with EVOO and lemon juice (the original recipe suggests lemon zest, which would probably be better if you have it)
Chop 1 onion and 2 cloves of garlic.
Heat 2T EVOO in a medium saucepan.
Saute the chopt onion and garlic wth a pinch of salt until the onions are soft and beginning to become clear.
Add 1.5c uncooked farro and saute for a minute or so more.
Stir in 1c (1 can) tomato sauce and 2.5c veggie stock.
Allow this to come to a simmer while seasoning with black pepper, oregano, basil, rosemary and salt.
Remove the pan from the heat and stir in 1/2c Parmesan and a GENEROUS 1/2c mozzarella (I cubed some fancy mozzarella--amazing!).
If desired, stir in 5 chopt cherry tomatoes and a handful of chopt olives.
Pour this mixture in to the prepared dish, cover with foil, poke holes into the foil, and bake for 40 minutes or until the farro is soft. Take the foil off for the last few minutes of the baking time in order to make the top nice and bubbly.
Serve topped with shaved Parmesan.

The finished product:


My first helping:


So tasty and so perfect for a chilly winter's day!

Finally, edible tofu

Tonight's tofu trial was tolerable. Saute 3 leeks until soft. Mix in some hummus. Meanwhile, cube tofu in a casserole and add diced tomatoes and some salsa. Mix in the leek/hummus mixture. Top with Brad's Dried Kale Chips - - doubtless the planet's most expensive snack food per unit weight. Cook at 350 for 30 min. I served it with rice cooked with onion, chopt apricots and ginger. And a Rioja. Actually pretty good.